Umaisarah

Thanks Gemini. For me, I actually have an agent friend I'll make sure to tell the seller agent I have someone helping me at the buying end. Any tips on whether to sign exclusive or not to sell flat?

Hi, need some advice. Sorry if this has been/asked before. I signed an 'exclusive agreement' with an agent who happens to be my friend and financial planner. Her 3 months exclusive is going to be up soon, and I'm planning to switch agents. I'm not sure if I should sign another exclusive with the new agent or I should just contact a few agents and tell them to market my unit for me? What are the pros and cons? Fyi, my property is a condo. When I was looking for HDB houses to buy, some agents representing the seller says they charge 1% 'service fee' for handling my transaction with HDB. Would this contravene the ruling which says agent cannot represent buyer and seller? I feel the 1% is too much for just filling up some forms and submitting to HDB. And since I move from private to HDB, there's less hassle, right? No contra to do etc etc? So technically, I can do myself? Appreciate any advice. Thank you.

Wow, I miss coming to Renotalk. Been four years since I was active (see my sig). Anyway, on topic of EM, I have a story to tell. We looked at a few EMs in Tampines. 1st one we saw, we fall in love. It was a rare EM, has 5 bedrooms (yes, you read it right), 3 on the lower floor, and 2 on the upper. It's located in a nice, D & B precint in Tampines. There're only 2 EMs in the whole block, the rest are 5-room or EA. Floor to ceiling windows in the living room. Kitchen is odd-shaped but can live with it. Super huge but odd-shaped bathrooms, one on each floor. No store room but we can make one from one of the bedroom. Current owner has turned the upstairs bedrooms into one super duper Master with WIW. Fantastic, so many things I can do with this unit to turn into the best house ever. We saw it twice. First time, just me and hubby. 2nd time, we came with my 3 kids and my agent-friend coz want to talk business. My problem is that I'm cash poor so I need to sell off my house before I can buy a new one. The asking price was $800K. Considered expensive coz valuation around that area is about $700K+. But I'm so in love with it, I'm willing to still consider. The more reason I need to sell my house first so we can use the cash from there to buy this dream home. So it's now been a month since I saw the unit, and it's still on the market. Yay, so happy. But a few weeks ago I saw smth that broke my heart. No, the unit was not sold. The owner is now asking for $920,000. I thought it was a mistake. I watsapp the agent, ask her, seriously, is the seller asking for $920K? She said yes. I said that's ridiculous. Prices going down. She asks me how much I'm seriously offering. I said it is impossible for me to buy because the COV is not worth it. Even at $800K, it is over-priced, now asking for $920K??? Like an EM in Bishan or Queenstown?? Hello, this is TAMPINES ( no offence). Even if it is 'super rare' and unique (ala penthouse EM), I still think it is unrealistic and ridiculous. I still have to reno the unit because it's not in that great a condition. There's like aircon trunking hanging off the ceiling! and the master bathroom has glass walls! I don't want my hubby to see me while I take a dump! Sorry for my ranting. I'm so disappointed and angry at the seller's attitude. Don't think they're really serious in selling. They've moved out and living with sick MIL, so to them, I sell, ok, I don't sell also ok. Not urgent. That's why they dare ask for that kind of price. What you guys think? Worth it to pay super premium COV for 'rare' unit? In this case, it really is rare. but no way I'm paying $200K extra for it.

I really liked this Premium 'rare' EM at Tampines. At first seller asked $800K. A few weeks ago, I saw their ad again in Propertyguru, now they're asking $920K. I was like, WTF????? That's like $200K COV!!!! Is this seller serious? I'm so disappointed because that unit was #1 in my list. I was waiting to sell my house before I make offer. Now I hv to remove it from my shortlist coz don't want to deal with unrealistic, greedy sellers Most I'm willing to pay for COV is $25K.

Haha, i just read my signature. Yeah, after 4 years in my new home, I'm looking for a new one. I'm crazy, lol.

Hi all. I've been house-hunting for a month now (even though my current house haven't sold yet, lol). Target is a 4-bedroom HDB, high floor, windy, unblock, no west sun, the works lah. But of course trying to find the ideal house is next to impossible. I saw one which was nearly 95% there. A 'premium' EA in Tampines, very close to where TPE meets PIE, the blocks' facade are very distinctive (brick reddish-brown), if you are a Tampines dweller, you probably know which block I'm talking about. Anyway, this unit is on the top floor (check). It has high ceilings (check), it has a balcony with superb unblock views (check). It has simple reno (check, coz this time round I want an unrenovated house so I can do it to my taste). It has a service balcony (check), store room (check) and a good-sized kitchen (check). Location and price is also right (check) The only thing left on my checklist is the bedrooms. It has 3 good-sized bedrooms, all facing the unblock views. The 4th bedroom is actually the study room which they've turned into a bedroom. The only problem with this room is that the bedroom windows overlook the service balcony. Now, what architect design a study room such that it overlooks the place where you hang your clothes and keep your aircon compressor? smh. **** stupid, i tell u. Anyway, bo pian, the house lidat, what to do right? So, I'm quite willing to accept the house for what it is, but my hubby is not too keen because of this issue. So I'm trying to find ways on how I can do the ID such that the situation with the 4th bedroom is not so bad. Most likely my youngest daughter (12 y.o) will be using this room. I thought of extending the room into the service balcony but it's not possible coz the common toilet window is there. One way is to to decorate that part of the service balcony with lots of plants and greenery so that it's pleasant to look at if she looks out of the window. My hubby thought of sealing off the windows and making new ones near the ceiling, mainly for ventilation purposes, but it'll be quite depressing not to have windows in a bedroom right? Welcome any ideas from RT forummers on how they would fix the situation. Anyone have same problem of windows overlooking service balcony or something equally unpleasant? Our decision to make offer on this unit hinges on this issue. If we can find a creative way to fix it, I think my hubby is open to buying it.

More Winkplay decals! Kids Room 2 - Oh La Love theme This one was soooooo difficult to do coz the decal refused to stick to the transfer paper no matter how hard I rub it in. But the design is really cool and suit my growing tween girl to a 'T'

Finally got round to putting up the Winkplay decals for my kids bedrooms. Just in time for Hari Raya! Kids Room 1 - Treeflower Theme The Beginning.... Rubbing it in The final product!

Okay, almost 3 months into my new home, and here's my final review of my contractors. Last but not least, my main ID - Inner Room! Inner Room Service: Interior 'Designer' and Main Contractor Note the 'designer' in inverted commas. Nothing original in their designs, most were re-hashed from previous or someone else's designs but at least they were practical and functional and not unpleasant to look at. I hired them because the ID, Cadine Lim, had given positive vibes during my window-shopping period, and she was prompt and well-prepared during our initial meetings. You can read my earlier postings about my search for an ID. Inner Room prices are on the high side because supposedly their materials are of higher quality. The materials do look good, especially the wood laminates, but workmanship can be improved. All the carpentry is from Malaysia - which should help keep costs down and the savings passed on to customers - which means that my ID is not there to supervise and instruct while they're fabricating the furniture. This is a disadvantage coz she can't point out if they went wrong with the fabrication. Not that anything major went wrong, but there were some things which were not to my satisfaction. One major thing was the bedroom set for my daughter. And for this, blame falls 60-40 to Cadine and the carpenter. Cadine because she didn't modify my original concept (very rough and squarish) and put in her designer inputs. The bed turned out to be impractical in some aspects, and 'dangerous' in others. It had very sharp corners just waiting for kids heads to bump into. The loft bed was difficult to get to coz the ladder had no holders or handles. The only other thing I was not satisfied with was the bay window ledges. I had slanted ledges, and I think because they haven't done it before, the workmanship was quite bad. The joints were finished very roughly and some looked unfinished. And the carpenter scratched the bedroom floor when he was cutting some of the laminates. Other than that, in terms of project management, can't find any fault with Cadine. She is very organised and pleasant to work with. She is quick to catch what you want and will offer good ideas, and advise you what will work and what won't. She will admit her mistakes (not that there were many) and make up for it. Inner Room is a sister company of Rest and Relax, which offers lifetime guarantee on their reno. I'm supposed get a cert or something from them. Which reminds me to give Cadine a ring and ask her about it. Verdict: 6.85 out of 10. Just short of getting an A

Hi Ken! Do you want the breakdown by items or the total? For the total, I think it was abt $18k. I pm you the breakdown once I find the quote at home. Oh, that reminds me, I still hvn't done the review on Inner Room yet

Hi Leslyn Sorry for the late reply. Was bz preparing for Hari Raya, only now got time to check. Here's my original post about the mattress. I think I paid about $3,700 for it, with all the freebies thrown in. I saw a Serta ad about a week ago in this papers and they were having officers for Micro-something pillows and bedsheets costing abt $300++ Maybe you can bargain to get them for free if you buy a mattress from them Happy renovating and shopping!

Hi folks I intend to make a claim against this person/company and wish to get help and advice from those who have similar experience. I placed an order for a custom-made bookcase from a shop at Park Mall in April. After agreeing on the price, I placed a 50% deposit to confirm the order. I got an official order form/receipt from the salesperson there who I shall call AK. AK is also one of the Directors of the company as he also designs the bookcase for me. Because the design was complicated, AK was only able to confirm the design with me in May. Delivery date is supposed to be 8 weeks from May. About a month later, I sent an email to AK asking about the status. He replied more than a week later with the excuse that the design was complicated and so it will take longer than usual. Then he also told me that the shop has closed down under Director's resolution, and he has resigned to join another company. This new company will take over my order. AK also said shipment of my item will be in mid August. As I was in no hurry, I said ok but told him that September is the latest I can wait. I sent AK another reminder in early August. He replied to say the shipment is now expected to be in end August. End August, I sent AK another reminder. He replied to say that EDD is now 15 October, and it's based on his 'speculation of the current status of production.' That's it. I have had enough of waiting and waiting and being patient. I sent AK 3 demands and an ultimatum: 1. give me photographic evidence that production is in progress 2. compensation for delay 3. delivery by 15 September, failing which he must return my deposit. Ultimatum: if he doesn't agree, I will make a claim in SCT Question: 1. do i have a case? I think I do. 2. do I make a claim against the original company (the one which closed down in Park Mall), the new company, or the individual? 3. Anyone make a claim before? Is it easy? 4. How much can I claim for? $900 + mental distress? :-) The good side is I hv everything in writing, plus the address of the new company he joined. I really hate to do this cause AK seemed like a nice fellow, am not sure if he's trying to pull a fast one on me, or it's a genuine case of production delays, so I'm hoping this ultimatum will wake him up a bit. I expect him to offer me an alternative, ie another bookcase in similar quality, let's see if he does. Any tips, advice or help appreciated. Thanks!

I'm almost afraid to ask....what is Teak Curtains?

I have these bay windows all over my bedrooms. What I did with them: 1. Build a bed over it. 2. Build a desk over it. 3. Build a slanting ledge on one side which can be used to store things, and also a place to lounge around My bay windows come with almost floor to ceiling windows, so you can also build cabinets all along the windows, like what my neighbours did, and still have good views from the window. My helper currently sleeps on the bay window in her room since it's quite comfy and wide enough for her (even though I've bought her a foldable bed). Check out my blog for pics.

Wow, it's been exactly 2 months and 1 day since I moved in, and I think it's time for me to do a review on the contractors I engaged. 1. Styleline, Kitchener Road Service: Bamboo decking for balconies I wanted to deck up my balconies and was looking at a few options - Chengal, Teak, and then I found out about bamboo flooring. I think Styleline is one of the very few companies in Singapore which specializes in bamboo floors. Kent - the salesguy who handled my work - was friendly and patient. There was a slight hiccup during the installation, other than that, the service and workmanship is satisfactory. Need to call him up to ask about oiling the balcony though coz my living room is all discoloured due to the rain, and there's a lot of scratches coz SOME people are not as careful and appreciative of the outdoor deck as me (I'm looking at you Hubby and Helper ). My MBR balcony is still in pristine condition, though. Verdict: 3.5 out of 5. Recommended if you're into living green. 2. Euro Furnishing & Renovation Service: Electrical Wiring and Fixtures Regular readers would have known about the trouble I had with the electrician whom I eventually fired. Euro Electrical was the back-up plan. Their prices are average, meaning it's not cheap, nor is it exorbitant either (go read the topics on Electricians to find out about the horror stories). But I'm very disappointed with the service and workmanship, given the price I paid. Though they are very prompt, and supply a lot of manpower (there were about 5 workers at one time in my house), their work is shoddy and most of the workers were inexperienced. They had to be told what to do by this very loud Supervisor (local Indian) who had a careless attitude about things, in my opinion. There was also another Supervisor (a Chinese) who didn't do anything much except look on and go out to buy supplies. But he's the one who will ask me for payment. Back to the workmanship, it's kind of shoddy, eg switches were placed the wrong way, not properly aligned, etc. They were also quite messy in their work, eg the Indian Sup cut off the blunt parts of his pen knife and just leave the cut-off part on the floor! Quite poor organization and planning of work. Likes to blame others if things don't work, eg they install dimmer for my MBR light, even though I never asked for it, and when we tested the light, it flickered continuously. So, when I asked, they said the problem is with the bulb. But when I asked them to remove the dimmer and replace with a normal switch, the lamp worked perfectly. Duh! They 'destroyed' half of the bulbs that came with the downlights and other lights, because they fixed the lightings wrongly, and me and my Hubby had to go out and buy them ourselves! And the Sup helped himself to some canned drinks in our fridge without permission! Verdict: 2.5 out of 5, and I'm being generous.

Have PMed you the reply. Let me know if you want to try your hand at assembling the lights

Err sorry....what's a 金钱龟. I not Chinese leh....is it a dog?

pm u aredy.

Just realised that I missed out on a very important shop 5. lightings.com.sg, 515 Balestier Road Items Bought: Light fixtures and ceiling fans There's been a lot of positive reviews about lightings.com.sg in RT. For me, it's 50-50. In terms of price, other places can probably match them, especially if you buy a lot of stuff from them. Range-wise, nothing to shout about, pretty standard fare. Service? So-so lah. The ballasts I bought with the downlights were poor quality, according to the electrician, and it's pretty true coz there're a lot of flickering before the lights come on. These ballasts are from M'sia, so if you're buying those lights, choose the Australian-made ballasts which I presume would be better, and it's only a few $ more. And if you're buying from lightings.com, do bear in mind that the price doesn't include installation. Repeat, it doesn't include installation. You have to arrange for it yourself. They do hv their own in-house electrician who can do the installations for you, and they're quite transparent in that they show you the fees that the electrician charges to prove there's no mark-up on their side. I had to change the LED spotlight they recommended me because the combination they recommended didn't work (the bulb was too big for the casing) which was frustrating coz they should know their own products right? The plus point was that I won a PS3 in their lucky draw (I haven't mention that, have I? ) but this has not influenced my ratings on them. Verdict: 3 out of 5 stars. Recommended if you want transparency in your pricing, and have your own electrician to install the fixtures for you. Edited: Finally remembered the lights u install in the false ceiling are called downlights! My poor memory, it is go, going, gone.....

There's a lot of furniture shops at the Dempsey Road village, selling antique and teak furniture. The one where Patysg bought her dining set - Pasardina - is not bad. Can't remember all the names, but I remembered a whole row of shops not far from the entrance. can check out the website at www.dempseyhill.com or www.tanglinvillage.com.sg

Been a month and 1 day since I moved in, so I thought I'll give a review of my contractors/vendors/shops that I used for my reno as a way of giving back to all the helpful RT forummers who had helped me in my reno journey. Disclaimer, hor. Pls don't come after me if the tips and advice I give here don't work for you, ok? Different ppl, different experience, mah? Let's start with the easy ones, shall we? 1. Serta Mattress, IMM Lvl 2, Salesperson - Kevin Item Bought: Serta Sierra Hills King-size Mattress Don't be intimidated by the stories you heard about Serta mattresses being very ex, like I was. Well, they are quite pricey but don't get turned off by the original price which is sometimes 100% more than the final selling price. My personal opinion is that the RPP has never, ever been the serious selling price. It's just there to make their discounts look good. And discounts seems to be a 365-day offer. Bargain hard for freebies if you can't lower the price further. The salesguy - Kevin, if my memory hasn't failed me - is very nice and accommodating. Make friends with him and he can throw you four free pillows The pillows are **** syiok. Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars, Highly recommended 2. Natural Living, Park Mall & Upper Bt Timah Road Items Bought: Coffee table and King-Size Bed Frame Well, I have a 'natural' bias towards them. If you're into affordable resort-theme furniture, my view is that they're a place to seriously check out. Their service is nothing to shout about, but generally I find them very patient and accomodating, especially the one at Park Mall. Negotiate on the price, sometimes they're willing to give good discounts, even on offer items. Don't be afraid to offer a price which is like 30-40% lower. I learn from experience. Delivery is also prompt, and no problems with items upon delivery. Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars, Highly recommended (if you're into resort themes) 3. Barossa Furniture, River Valley Road Item Bought: Dining Set Actually I didn't buy a dining set from them, but I got my existing one varnished and upholstered. Well, what can I say for good ole D? Nice person during the marketing part, but quite rude and nasty after he's sold you his item. Had a bad experience about delivery dates and long silences in between. In the end, he's just a middleman coz the person doing the actual work is another contractor which he deals with. Anyhow, if I can rewind, I would have probably tried my luck with another cheaper (but by not much) vendor. Barossa's quality and workmanship is good though. If you can tahan his quirkiness, and be firm on your demands, you can try this company out for varnishing and upholstering works, especially for wooden furniture. The stuff in his shop is not bad too but you can get equally nice ones over at Dempsey Road. Verdict: 3 out of 5 stars, Recommended if you're a quirky and eccentric Brit yourself 4. J & S Design Services, Tanjong Katong Complex Item Bought: Curtain-making services Oh, if only I knew better, sigh...! I'm not complaining about their quality, workmanship or service. Just their price. Can't believe I paid that much $$ for curtains. It's hard to compare curtains coz it really boils down to your choice of fabrics. Maybe the ones I chose are pricey but then again I don't think there's a cheaper version of the same design/brand elsewhere. They probably charge about the same? Am not sure . Perhaps others more experience can comment. Anyway, in terms of range and variety of fabrics, J & S has an excellent selection but do be careful about the price. They did say the cheapest fabric they had was $28 per metre. Workmanship and mechanisms they use is very good, although I did find the cord for the roller blinds quite flimsy, like can snap any time but the rolling mechanism is very smooth. Verdict: 3 out of 5 stars, Recommended if you have set aside big budget for your window treatments. Next up will be the contractors I used.

Hey England! For the next few weeks, I am a fan of England but looks like they'll be joining Cameroon soon

Hi FZ! Belated welcome to Renoblog. Hv u got any info on your modern resort theme yet? I'm not sure if mine will classify as modern resort but I use a lot of wood and natural materials in my furniture and fittings. I tried to marry resort with modern when I had wanted to get those modern looking metallic and plastic chairs with my solid wood table but my RT frens advised me to stick to the classic look, and I didn't regret it. But I dunno - mbe you'll be braver and try to pair a modern white minimalist sofa with solid teak coffee table, perhaps? I see that you've already bought your dining set. If you're still looking for furniture or small furnishings, you can try out Natural Living. They hv a lot of nice resort-theme furniture there. Another good place for a look-see and inspiration is Zen Living. Anyhow, do post more pictures of your reno story! Your place is super-convenient but I wonder if it will get too busy once everybody starts moving in?? I can imagine parking there is a nightmare. I once had lunch at the new market and had to wait in queue for nearly half an hour - not to buy food but to get out of the carpark!!

Awww! It's like seeing an old childhood fren, all grown up, sniff sniff. Anyway, happy that it has found another home. Does really look great, doesn't it? Edited to add the Before pic of the sideboard.

Heh Heh, was so excited to see the table until didn't notice the sofa is rearranged. As Ngunadi said, I had the table revarnished and recoloured. Ngunadi also had some varnishing works done by the same place. Show pics quickly leh.....! Oh, sorry, sorry, just saw the pics. Very nice, so tt D not all hot air lah...he good in his work too